Novel I- -doped BiOBr composites: Modulated valence bands and largely enhanced visible light phtotocatalytic activities

Novel I- -doped BiOBr (I-BiOBr) composites were prepared by a simple chemical precipitation method. The doped I- induced the light absorption I-BiOBr broadening to visible light region remarkably. Under visible light (lambda > 400 nm), I-BiOBr composites displayed much higher photocatalytic activities than pure BiOBr for degrading methyl orange. The newly formed I- impurity levels located on top of the valence band of BiOBr, determined by Mott-Schottky method, facilitated in generating more electron-hole pairs and further highly improved the photocatalytic activities I-BiOBr samples. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.